We’ve recently written about land-based aquaculture and cell-cultured seafood, two high-tech production techniques that could help to satisfy rising seafood demand while reducing environmental impacts. But conventional fish farming is still a big part of the picture: Global aquaculture production rose by almost 530% between 1990 and 2018, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Kvarøy Arctic, a third-generation family-owned aquaculture business, has been farming salmon in the Arctic Circle since 1976. Over the last two decades, the company has taken steps to reduce its environmental footprint. Last week, The Spoon got on Zoom with company CEO Alf-Gøran Knutsen to find out how Kvarøy is using tech to work toward that goal.
The company’s biggest innovation has to do with blockchain technology — which Kvarøy is using to boost transparency and traceability, creating a system where customers can hold the company accountable at every step along the journey from roe to packaged fish product.
“We already had a lot of basic data on where the fish were bred, how they were fed, how they were selected,” Knutsen told The Spoon. “But all of this data was fragmented and kept separate.” With the new system, data on the salmon roe, smolt production, in-sea production, harvesting, and processing are consolidated into blocks. Then those blocks are linked together, creating a chain of data that incorporates information from every stage of the fish’s life cycles. By partnering with fish feed producer Biomar, Kvarøy has even made the individual ingredients in its salmon feed traceable on the blockchain.
Kvarøy’s packages are already printed with QR codes, and the company hopes to fully implement the tracing system with its retail partners sometime next year. The data is also helping the company to improve its own practices, boosting efficiency and reducing fish mortality. For instance, the company is currently experimenting with a prototype of a tool that tells the team when to start raising salmon roe in order to sell a certain amount of fish by a certain date.
The company has also found a way to treat its salmon for parasitic sea lice without using antibiotics. Using Oslo-based tech company Stingray Marine Solutions’ laser delousing system, which is powered by machine vision, the Kvarøy team can eliminate lice without harming the salmon or polluting the environment.
In the near future, artificial intelligence may also help Kvarøy to monitor the health of its fish. The company is considering implementing a system that would recognize and track individual salmon, keeping track of wounds and other potential health issues.
Kvarøy estimates that it takes about 1.4 kilograms less carbon and 500 kilograms less water to produce a kilogram of fish than it would to produce the same amount via standard, non-organic aquaculture. Knutsen attributes most of that difference in environmental footprint to Kvarøy’s fish feed: In addition to fishmeal and krill, the company uses plant-based proteins, starches, and oils to feed its fish. “We are always trying to innovate,” Knutsen said. “And we’re always trying to find new ways of sourcing feed closer to where we produce our fish.”
Last year, Kvarøy launched a U.S. brand, placing its products in Whole Foods Markets and other grocery stores. The company is now working on transitioning away from fossil fuel use, and powering more of its operations with renewable electricity. And in the coming year, Knutsen said that the team will work toward the launch of its first land-based fish farm.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, properly managed fish farms can help to maintain and even rebuild fish stocks. Kvarøy’s approach provides an example of how aquaculture businesses can combine generations of experience with tech innovation to have a better impact.
Image Courtesy of Kvarøy Arctic
